Jackass director to helm Motley Crue biopic `The Dirt'

Focus Features is reviving Motley Crue biopic “The Dirt,” which was set up nearly a decade ago at Paramount.

Jeff Tremaine will direct from a screenplay written by Rich Wilkes and Tom Kapinos based on the 2001 autobiography “The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band” by band members Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, and Nikki Sixx, along with author Neil Strauss.

Producers are Julie Yorn, Erik Olsen and Allen Kovac. Chris Nilsson, Steven Kline and Rick Yorn will exec produce, and the band members will co-produce.

Tremaine has directed all of the “Jackass” films. Josh McLaughlin will oversee the production for Focus.

Larry Charles was attached to direct “The Dirt” for Paramount Classics in 2006 with MTV Films.

The band is currently on its “final tour” with the slogan “All Bad Things Must Come to an End.”

Mötley Crüe biopic The Dirt is kickstarting its heart.

The long-gestating project, which at one point called Paramount and Focus Features home sweet home, is in negotiations to land at Netflix, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Jeff Tremaine, the helmer of the Jackass movies, is attached to direct the project, which has a script by Rich Wilkes and Tom Kapinos.

The project is based on The New York Times bestselling autobiography The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band, which was written by Mötley Crüe members Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx, as well as author Neil Strauss.

The book was a no-holds-barred account of the iconic 1980s band's rise to top of the hair metal and rock scene, all while experiencing a guitar case's worth of drug overdoses, sex with slinky babes, run-ins with the police and in-fighting.

The project was last at Focus, which picked it up in January 2015. Before that it was at Paramount where directors such as David Fincher and Larry Charles were sweet on it.

Julie Yorn, Erik Olsen, and Allen Kovac remain on board as producers. Chris Nilsson, Steven Kline, and Rick Yorn are executive-producing.

The band members are co-producers on the film. Amanda Adelson is also a co-producer.

Colson Baker, known by his stage name Machine Gun Kelly, has been tapped to play Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee in Netflix’s adaptation of the band’s biography “The Dirt.”

Jeff Tremaine, who helmed the “Jackass” movies, is directing the film from a script by Rich Wilkes and Tom Kapinos. Julie Yorn, Erik Olsen, and Allen Kovac are producing, while Chris Nilsson, Steve Kline, and Rick Yorn are exec producing. Members of Motley Crue are co-producing.

Based on the 2001 autobiography “The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band,” the movie follows the group’s rise during the ’80s “hair band” rock scene on the Sunset Strip and pulls no punches as it dives into the band’s highs and lows along the way. Motley Crue played its final concert on New Year’s Eve in 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The band was formed in L.A. and released its first album, “Too Fast for Love,” in 1981. Motley Crue combined hard rock, heavy metal, and glam rock, going on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide.

This is the closest the film has come to moving toward production after years of jumping from studio to studio. It landed at Paramount Pictures more than a decade ago. Larry Charles was initially attached to direct “The Dirt” for Paramount and MTV Films in 2006. Focus then came on in 2015 while the band was on its final tour. At that point, Tremaine and the current producers were on board.

Baker is repped by ICM Partners, EST 19XX, and Felker, Toczek, and Levine.

Motley Crue Biopic 'The Dirt' Finds Its Vince Neil, Mick Mars (Exclusive)
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The actors will join Douglas Booth, who is on board as Nikki Sixx, and Machine Gun Kelly, who is due to play drummer Tommy Lee, in the movie that is based on the bestselling autobiography written by the band and author Neil Strauss.

As the long-gestating Motley Crue biopic The Dirt heads towards a February production start, the film is in the home sweet home stretch of firming up the leads who will play the iconic rock-and-roll hair band.

Game of Thrones actor Iwan Rheon and The Punisher actor Daniel Webber are in negotiations to star as guitarist Mick Mars and frontman Vince Neil.

If the deals go through, the actors will join Douglas Booth, who is on board as Nikki Sixx, and Machine Gun Kelly, who is due to play drummer Tommy Lee, in the movie that is based on the bestselling autobiography written by the band and author Neil Strauss.

Jeff Tremaine, the helmer of the Jackass movies, is attached to direct the pic, which has a script by Rich Wilkes, Tom Kapinos, and Amanda Adelson.

The book was a no-holds-barred account of the iconic 1980s band's rise to top of the hair metal and rock scene, chronicling their rise from the streets of Hollywood to the heights of international fame while conquering drug addiction and personal demons on their way toward redemption.

A movie adaptation of the book has been in the works since 2003 and Dirt was previously set up at Paramount and Focus Features before landing at Netflix in 2017.

Julie Yorn, Erik Olsen, and Allen Kovac are producing. Chris Nilsson, Steven Kline and Rick Yorn are executive producing.

The bandmembers are co-producers on the film.

Rheon gained a following for his role as the vicious and brutal Ramsay Bolton in HBO’s Thrones. He was most recently seen playing Maximus in the Marvel show The Inhumans. He is repped by UTA

Webber did scene-stealing work as a PTSD-suffering soldier in Netflix’s Punisher. He is repped by WME.